Thill and tongue support.



PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905.

J. H. HENSON.

THILL AND TONGUE SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.13, 1905.

Witne UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HENRY HENSON, OF COOLEY, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

THILL AND TONGUE SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1905.

. Application filed March 13, 1905. Serial No. 249,852.

Be it known that I, JOHN HENRY HENSON, a citizen of the United States,residin at Cooley, in the county of Woodward, Orlahoma Territory, haveinvented a new and useful Thill and Tongue Support, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to shaft and tongue supports for holding theshafts and tongues in upright positions when the vehicle is not in useand is designed to provide an improved device of this character capableof being conveniently fitted to and removed from the vehicle and asreadily engaged with the tongue or shaft without dismantling any portionof the vehicle.

Another object of the invention is to embody the same in severaldifferent forms, so; as to adapt the same for application to vehicles ofdifferent characters in order that the device may have a wide range ofapplication.

W'th these objects in view the present invention consists in thecombination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, shown in the accompanying drawin s, and particularly pointedout in the appen ed claims, it being understood that changes in theform, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scopeof the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1,

- 2, 3, and 4 are detail perspective views of different embodiments ofthe present invention. Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are views illustrating theapplication and operationiof the respective forms of the invention,parts being broken away to show the manner of connecting the deviceswith the vehicles.

Like characters of reference designate cor responding parts in each andevery figure of the drawings.

Each of the several forms of the present invention consists of asubstantially straight flat metallic bar 1, constituting a shank whichhas its front end portin2 bent transversely at substantially rightangles to the shank to form a shaft-engaging member. In each of Figs. 1and 2 the front end portion of the shankis first bent downwardly, as at3, and then folded over at substantially right angles to the stem, so asto bring the members 1 and 2 into planes at substantially right anglesto one another, the member 1 being in a horizontal plane and the member2 in a verber 2 substantially flush with the top face of the shank 1.For the support of the device the rear end of the shank of each form isprovided with an attaching hook or clip, which of course varies somewhatin form, according to the application of the device. As embodied in Fig.1 the rear end of the shank extends downwardly in the nature of an arm4, the lower extremity of which extends fortical plane with the upperedge of the memwardly, .as at 5, in substantial parallelism with theshank 1, whereby the parts 4 and 5 constitute a substantially L-shapedattaching clip or hook, which is designed to enrbrace the frontcross-bar 6, as shown in Fig. 5, ordinarily supported upon the top of anelliptical spring 7, carried by the axle 8. When thus applied, the shank1 extends across the top of the cross-bar 6 and projects a suitabledistance in front thereof, the attaching clip or hook having sufiicientelasticity to snugly embrace the cross-bar and the top portion of thespring, with the cross-arm 2 engaging across the front of the shaft orthill 9, which has been previously elevated preparatory to fitting thesupport in place.

The form shown in Fig. 2 has its rear end split longitudinally to formfork members 10 and 11, which are alternately sprung upwardly anddownwardly to produce elastic members, the outer extremity of the member11 terminating in a pendent car 12, while the rear end of the member 10terminates in an upwardly-directed hook 13. The application of this formof the device has been shown in Fig. 6, wherein it will be seen that thesupport is received within the elliptical spring 7, with its hook 13embracing the upper member of the spring and its ear 12 engaging back ofthe lower member of the spring, the part 2 engaging across the front ofthe shaft or thill 9, so as to hold the latter in an upright position.

As embodied in Fig. 3 the shank is merely folded over at right angles toform the crossbar 2, which lies in a plane substantially parallel withthe shank l, the latter terminating at its rear end in a hook 14, whichis designed to engage beneath an axle 15 from the rear side thereof,with the shank 1 inclined upwardly and forwardly across the top of theaxle and the cross-bar 2 engaged across the front of the thill 16, theweight of the thill upon the upper end of the shank 1 causing the hook14 to grip the axle, and thereby be retained thereon. v

Another form of the device has been shown.

shank terminating in an upwardly-directed.

hook 19, which, as shown in Fig. 8, is designed to embracea cleat orcross-bar 20 upon the under side of the vehicle-bed 21, with thecross-bar2 engaging across the front side of a' draft-tongue 22.

From the foregoing descri tion it will be understood that each form 0the present invention is an integral device and is shaped at one end toengage across the front side of the thill or draft-tongue with its rearend con structed to engage and be supported by some portion of thevehicle without requiring any extraneous fastening means whereby eachform of the device may be conveniently attached and removed withoutincurring the delay of applying'and removing fastening devices andwithout dismantling any portion of the vehicle. vMoreover, the inventionis embodied in several forms, so as to adapt the in: vention forapplication to different portions of differently-constructed vehicles,so as to give the invention awide range of application.

By forming the present device of plate 1. A tongue and thill supportcomprising a shank formed of plate metal having one end bent into ahook-shaped attaching-clip and its other end folded transversely acrossthe shank to form a cross-arm for engagement across the front of athill.

2. A tongue and thill support comprising a shank of plate metal which issplit longitudinally in its rear end with its split portions spread andbent at their rear ends to form attaching-clips, the other end of theshank being folded to form a transverse thill-engaging arm.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN HENRY HENSON.

Witnesses:

B. F. WILLETT, B. F. RICHARDS.

